Free Republic

Militarization of Law Enforcement These are not American Soldiers. They are Police Officers at the Ferguson Missouri protests. On May 18th, 2015, President Barack Obama announced that he was limiting the types of military equipment which can be transferred to police departments. He also announced the implementation of training programs to assure the appropriate use of other items. Because of his announcement, Homeland Security and the military can no longer transfer some weapons, such as grenade launchers, and IED resistant armored personnel carriers, other weaponized vehicles, and bayonets to police departments. Obama stated, "We’ve seen how militarized gear can...

WASHINGTON — Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-sanctioned security details. New heightened security procedures by the Transportation Security Administration, which require either a scan by a full-body detector or an intimate personal pat-down, have spurred passenger outrage in the lead-up to the Thanksgiving holiday airport crush. The senior government officials can opt out of such measures if they fly accompanied by government security guards approved by the TSA. The agency would not explain why it makes these exceptions, but...

The era of big government has returned with a vengeance, in the form of the largest federal work force in modern history. The Obama administration says the government will grow to 2.15 million employees this year, topping 2 million for the first time since President Clinton declared that "the era of big government is over" and joined forces with a Republican-led Congress in the 1990s to pare back the federal work force. Most of the increases are on the civilian side, which will grow by 153,000 workers, to 1.43 million people, in fiscal 2010.

Congressman Tim Walz co-authored legislation that, if passed, would limit the president’s authority to control the National Guard and put it back in the hands of state governors. “These provisions contradict the founding principles of this nation,” he said in a statement. “Neither this president, nor any other, should be given such unchecked control over the military for domestic law enforcement purposes.” In the new bill, this authority would be removed from the president and returned to the hands of local authorities where it has rested since the passage of the Insurrection Act of 1807. Local authorities are more familiar...

Bush administration officials blame state and local authorities for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management. Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday. The administration had sought control over National Guard units, normally under control of the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request,...